Stand By Me
by Screamofthebutterfly24
Summary: Incidents in Tony and Michelle's life, the simple times that they will remember most...I have returned with Chapter 5! Tony and Michelle experience yet another disaster...
1. A Dilemma in Flower Shopping

**Hey everyone! Okay little explanation here: This fic is just going to be about random days and experiences in Tony and Michelle's life, small and unimportant, and yet times that make them smile. I'm still relatively new at writing fluff, but I should get the hang of it soon. Oh and thanks so much to Shea! All the help on this was wonderful, so without further ado….Chapter 1**

He was facing a moral dilemma. _Roses, daisies, tulips…Maybe lilies? _He thought, staring perplexedly at the array of blinding colors that met his eyes. The diminutive flower shop smelled thickly of the aroma of countless flowers, making him feel slightly lightheaded. Everywhere he looked there was another carnation, pansy, or some other heavily fragranced form of vegetation. He had deemed earlier on that there was absolutely no point in the fifty different breeds of roses that met his eyes.

To the average person, picking out flowers for a special someone would be as simple and effortless as getting dressed in the morning. But he was Tony, and even if he died in the process, the urge of finding the perfect bouquet would not go unanswered. No matter how much confusion this precarious assignment concurred, he would not give up. Tony was on a mission, perhaps the most challenging the ex-marine had ever faced. The mission was to buy the woman he loved flowers.

It would be their third date that night, and 7:00 P.M., was rapidly approaching. _Ya, _he thought, _so it's only our third time out together, but still, this is important. I have to show her that I care. _To his other girlfriends, buying flowers would not have crossed his mind. Michelle had made him want to be different, better than he ever had before, and indulging her desires only made him happier.

He checked his watch nervously. It was _T_ minus thirty minutes and a decision still hadn't been made. He could feel small sweat beads starting to form on his hairline. It was ridiculously funny to think that just a few mere months ago he had helped solve the conspiracy of who was behind the nuclear bomb, and that now he found it more arduous to select a bouquet from an astounding assortment of flowers. Deny this fact as he would, Tony was starting to get desperate.

He cursed himself angrily for not asking her what her favorite flower was. How was he supposed to know about this subject? He had tried all his life to figure out how women's minds work, and even with the advantage of living with two sisters and his mother he still was had no perception of it.

It was 6:35 now. Tony couldn't be late, he knew had to come to a verdict soon or else all would be lost. He was very close to fainting from the fumes and whenever he closed his eyes he could still see the vivid color of theplants surrounding him.

Tony's eyes swept the area, glancing covertly at what the other customers' decisions were. Not that that helped much, the whole shop seemed to be filled with men just as dimwitted in this department as he. Tony paced around the shop, becoming more and more frantic as time wore on. 6:45 came and went. It was all down hill from here.

When it seemed at the last minute that all hope would fade, a brilliant miracle occurred. The crowds of clueless men parted and lo and behold in the corner of the tiny shop were a few of crimson red roses left. Tony silently thanked god, grabbed a handful of them and headed over to the counter to pay.

…

…

…

Anticipation was radiating off of Michelle Dessler. Tonight was Tony's and hers' third date. It had taken her hours to prepare for it, selecting the perfect red cocktail dress that clashed wonderfully with her hair. The door bell rang and she rapidly jumped up to go and answer it. She smoothed her dress down and fixed her curls in the mirror that stood adjacent to the doorway. Her heart was pounding heavily against her chest, and she struggled to gain her composure. Slowly, with great poise, she opened the door with a warm smile.

There Tony was, standing with a bouquet of roses in his hand. "Tony, you shouldn't have!" she said after placing a kiss on his lips. He gave her a small grin and said,

"It was no problem."


	2. Meet the Parents

**Here's Chapter 2! Thanks so much to all who reviewed before! Anyway bit of an explanation here: This chapter is a bit different from my normal writing habits. I know. It sounds totally scary, but lets hope that it turns out okay. Thank you to Shea for all the wonderful help. Oh yes and since I forgot to put a disclaimer on Chapter 1 here it is….**

**Disclaimer: If I owned any of 24 I would probably be really rich and vacationing somewhere in the Caribbean, I'm very depressed to say that I'm not so I guess you can rule that fantasy out…. **

"It's going to be fine Tony, don't worry." Michelle said exasperatingly, assuring him for the tenth time that everything would work out. Tony just shrugged slightly and turned to face Michelle, who was standing next to their bathroom mirror, slowly putting on her makeup.

"You're kidding me right?" He said, surveying her reflection for a moment. "Meeting a girl's parents for the first time is like a guy's worst nightmare. Some would even choose death over the living hell that I'm about to be put through." Tony ambled over to the front of the mirror, a sour expression on his face, adjusting his shirt on the way.

"Are telling me that you, Tony Almeida, the man who I believed nothing could bring down…" She said, pausing to let her words linger, while carefully slipping her arms around his waist. "Is scared of a simple dinner with my parents?"

Tony looked down at the hands that were intertwined with his, and into the smiling inquisitive face of Michelle, who was grinning gladly in his arms. He bent down to give her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Damn right I am."

Thirty minutes later, the two of them were walking hand in hand up the pathway leading to Michelle's parents' house. It was a modest house, one story, though tastefully decorated on the outside.

Tony walked along, with Michelle in the lead. Michelle had told him that she had informed her parents before hand that she would be bringing a guy to dinner. Tony knew that this had probably not fanned to well with them. From what he had gathered, Michelle was the pride and joy of her parents' lives and any intruder trying to take away this gift from them would have to be extinguished immediately.

Michelle too, was deeply absorbed in her own thought. She knew that this one little problem could unravel her whole devious plan to make sure the evening did not result in World War III. The only hindrance was that Tony had no idea what was going on. She knew that in order to survive this night, the terrible truth would have to be told. She took a deep breath.

"Sweetheart, there's something you should know before we go through with this." Michelle said, stopping him in the middle of the flower-suffocated lane. Tony gave her an inquiring look and waited for her to continue.

"My parents…They don't really know that…"

He braced himself for impact.

"That we're living together."

_We're screwed, _He thought.

Michelle watched his expression as she said this, his face beheld a look of trepidation, knowing all to well that this night was going to be more that just a simple dinner.

"Tony I'm really sorry, I promise I'll tell them tonight." Michelle continued, knowing that she had just committed herself to a binding contract. A small smile started to play on Tony's lips, and Michelle knew that he had realized what she was thinking. He gave her a brisk kiss then put his arm around her.

"What ever you want to do baby, is fine with me." He said, taking her hand to resume wandering the winding path to the door.

Michelle smiled to herself. Tony always seemed to understand what she was feeling. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much. Michelle knew that making her parents understand this would not be a problem.

The door came upon them with impressing speed. Michelle gave Tony a significant "Are you ready?" look which he responded "Yes" by squeezing her hand.

She reached out her hand and rang the doorbell tentatively. The ding-dong of the chime was followed almost instantly by a loud high pitched voice yelling. "Michelle's here!"

A second later, Tony's hand was ripped from Michelle's grasp as her vision was obscured by her mother's auburn curls.

"Michelle!" her mother gushed, "It's been so long!" She drew Michelle up in a rib breaking hug, letting go very gradually. Michelle was her mother's miniature down to the last wiry curl on her head. The only thing that differed between them was Michelle's almond shaped brown eyes. She embraced her daughter again, face teeming with delight.

Tony had stepped back not wanting to intrude on the family joy,decided towait for Michelle to introduce him. Unfortunately, her mother got to the subject first.

The look of pure pleasure that had been pasted so lovely on her face decreased considerably as Michelle's mom surveyed Tony down to the very last hair on his head.

"And you must be?" She said, with forced politeness. Michelle sensed the danger and quickly stepped in.

"Mom this is Tony remember? The guy I told you I was dating."

Michelle's mother's smile faltered for a moment. "Oh yes, your _boss_…" Tony noted how much emphasis she added to the word. She reached out and grasped his hand. "I'm Olivia and-" She didn't get to finish her sentence for the voice Tony had been dreading on hearing, interuppted.

"Not trying to smother them are you Livy?" said the booming voice. Tony turned to see where the owner was. The moment of dread had now come. It was Michelle's father.

As he approached into better view, it soon became evident who Michelle had inherited her eyes from. Her father was a husky man, six feet tall, with an intimidating air. Tony concluded that he was exactly like his military instructors.

"Dad!" Michelle treaded over to embrace her father. "Dad, this is-"

"Tony." Tony said stepping forward to shake the man's hand.

Michelle's father nodded. "Michael." He grunted introducing himself. What could have been an extremely uncomfortable silence as the two men stared each other down, not willing to break the other one's gaze, was soon broken.

"Well I'm sure you to must be hungry so if you'll follow me…" Michelle's mother said airily. Michelle silently thanked god that no one had been killed in that event, then beckoned her father and Tony through the door and into the dining room.

A wonderful smell had met Tony's nose once he was a footinside. The one word that was associated with the aroma was the best thing Tony could have hoped for in this situation. _Steak._ Michelle in the meantime, was shooting concealed glances at him that all too plainly said "Please don't blow this." Tony nodded at her, his nose filled with the scent.

"This looks great Mrs. Dessler." He said to Michelle's mom who had busied herself with setting out the rolls. Tony received his first genuine smile from her at that moment.

"Thank you Tony." She said, now fussing with the ice in the drinking glasses. Michelle relaxed a little. It was going to be fine. "Please sit down." Her mother beckoned them to the empty chairs.

Michelle took her seat beside Tony, and closed her eyes while her father said grace.

"Steak anyone?" He offered the plate around the polished wooden table. Tony was now at ease. Everything was going fine until-

"So I understand you to work together?" Michelle's father asked. Tony swallowed the piece of steak in his mouth rapidly.

"Well ya-"

"Oh Michael, didn't I tell you? Tony is Michelle's boss." Tony shifted to see that Michelle's mom had a totally innocent expression on her face, as if she was merely commenting on the weather.

Michelle's father on the other hand, had gone completely silent. Michelle stared from parent to parent, completely taken aback. Tony, not knowing what else to do, stuffed another wad of steak in his mouth and chewed loudly.

"Michelle-" Her father began.

Michelle cut him off curtly. "Not now dad, please?"

Her father sighed and looked down at his plate. Michelle reached for Tony's hand under the table. He grasped it back. The rest of dinner was spent with an escalating air of tension.

"Does anybody want some wine?" Michelle's mother had asked coming back from the kitchen with a nice unopened bottle. Everyone welcomed this proposal gladly as she poured a generous amount into their cups.

Dinner was passing swiftly and the small problem still had not yet been solved. Michelle had promised herself and Tony that tonight would be the night. _No more lies. _She thought.

Little did she know that to her left Tony was thinking the exact same thing.

_It's now or never_, she thought

_I hope Michelle realizes that if she tells them tonight I'm going to be skinned alive. _He reflected.

Michelle smiled at her parents while taking another sip of the wine.

_I mean they can't possibly do anything to us, I'm grown up and they'll just have to accept that, _She contemplated

_Honestly I've never met anyone so stiff in my life…_He mused

_Oh well, here goes nothing…_

"Mom, Dad, there's umm… something Tony and I have been meaning to tell you."

_Oh god here it comes._ Tony thought.

Her mother's eyes flickered back and forth between the pair, while her father's were riveted on Tony's.

"What did you do to her?" Michelle's father growled at him.

"Dad! Tony didn't do anything to me! We just wanted to let you two know that Tony and I have decided that it would be best for the both of us if I moved in with him." Michelle said this all very fast so it took a few moments for her words to process through her parents' ears.

"Do you mean to tell me that you two are living together?" Her mother asked hesitantly, not believing the sentence that had come out of her own mouth.

Michelle answered, "Well yes…we are."

The atmosphere immediately changed. Her father choked on the sip of wine that he was drinking, while her mother sat there dumbfounded. No one said a word. It was the longest, most awkward, silence that Michelle had ever experienced in her life. In one last desperate measure to find comfort, she looked to Tony, unfortunately, he was wearing an increasingly annoying "That's what you get" expression on his face.

Her parents were still petrified, but Michelle knew that soon they would regain their composure, then it would be off to the constant droning of the never-ending lectures of why moving in was a ludicrous idea.

Tony leaned forward in his chair and inaudibly whispered something Michelle could hear.

"What did I tell you? Living hell!"

Michelle grimaced and put her head down in her hands.


	3. Anything For You

**Yes finally I have returned with the third chapter! Many thanks to Shea for all the help, reviews do make my day so feel free to click that little button thingy on the bottom of the page when finished. Thank you and without further ado…….**

**Chapter 3**

It was sweltering hot outside. Not normal peaceful summer heat, but the "I live right beside the equator so basically that means I'm never going to walk outside again" kind of heat. Michelle had anxiously dragged Tony up from his usually undisturbed Sunday T.V. fest, drove about thirty minutes across the smoggy city of L.A. to a nice residential area to meet the realtor that was helping find their first house.

Tony, however, was not finding the whole adventure very amusing. He had been standing in the same spot for the last thirty minutes, while Michelle stood across from him talking happily to the realtor about the prospects of house-buying etiquette. He knew that he should be paying attention, but yet the heat outside seemed to have a truly horrible effect on his attention span. They had been searching for the perfect house for months now with no luck. All the lovely houses they had seen, the ones with the beautiful views, and the many bedrooms had not been enough to satisfy his wife's expectations. Tony sighed and wondered why today would be any different.

He did feel a bit guilty, but as much as he tried, Tony just couldn't participate in the giddy moods that Michelle and the realtor had both acquired. He lamented the fact that he could have been in front of the T.V. right now, in an air conditioned room, with nothing to interrupt him on his first day off in three months.

"This house is perfect for you Michelle, it's a great starter home and has tons of room-" The realtor rambled on and on. Tony looked down at his watch. It was now four. They had been here for two hours. His t-shirt was starting to stick uncomfortably to his skin. Tony knew that a few more minutes were all he could take before he did something…irrational.

"I like it, could we see inside?" Michelle asked happily.

"Of course." The realtor replied, "Follow me."

Tony turned and followed her through the oak door. Yes! He thoughtas his mood lifted slightly. Air conditioning!

The house inside was picturesque, not too extravagant, but the perfect "beginner home" for people graduating from apartments.

"Tony what do you think of it?" He heard the voice from far away. Quickly he snapped out of his stupor. Michelle was standing there in front of him, her heels clicking impatiently.

"What do I think of what sweetheart?" Tony asked unsurely. Michelle cast the realtor an exasperated glance.

"The house. What do you think?" She said, motioning vaguelyaround her.

"Oh, its great sweetheart, but…" He paused letting his sentence linger, knowing that the dreaded question was coming next. Tony sighed and continued. "How much is it?"

Michelle smile faltered just for a moment while she glanced at the realtor.

"Four seventy five." The realtor answered.

Michelle turned to Tony, smiling pleadingly. She had the look in her eyes that Tony hated the most. It was the look that made him vulnerable, that made the wall that he had spent so many years building up around his heart come crashing down all in one sweeping moment. The look that would make him go to the end of the world and back if it required him to. The only trouble was that Michelle knew it.

He sighed again, wondering how long he could take this assault. He smiled down at Michelle and nodded.

"What ever you want Michelle. What ever you want."

Michelle's smile widened,and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in an embrace.

"Thank you Tony." She whispered in his ear. Then turning to the equally happy realtor she said joyfully,

"We'll take it."

**(Don't you just love Tony?)**


	4. The Game

**I wasn't going to post this for a few more days but why not? Here you go…again thanks a million to Shea, and thank you all for the kind reviews.**

Chapter 4: The Game

The sun was sinking slowly down below the horizon. It was one of those rare times that you could actually see the sunset in L.A. Tony sat quietly on a wooden bench on the porch of his and Michelle's new home. They had been livingthere for about a month, and he had to admit he could not have imagined anything better. There was even a basketball hoop in the driveway, a perfect completion to their picturesque home. He sat there for a little while longer, taking in his surroundings.

He heard someone stir behind him, and a second later Tony was joined by Michelle.

"Hey." She said as she took a seat next to him.

"Hey." He replied, looking over to her.

"We're almost done unpacking." She said happily, "Only a few more boxes of kitchen stuff and then we're through."

Tony sighed gladly, the last few weeks had been nothing but unpacking, and it was a nice reassurance that life would return to normal.

He didn't realize it, but his arm had snuck around Michelle's shoulders, and together they sat for a moment watching the sun sink ever lower into the crimson sky.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." Michelle said, venturing back into the house.

Tony sat alone very content, but when the thought of work tomorrow and the meeting with Division came to mind, it sort of killed his comfortable mood.

Michelle came strolling back outside with her arms around something round. She held up the orange basketball.

"Still think you can beat me?" She asked challengingly.

He grinned, his wife knew him so well. "I don't think, I know." He replied.

She gave him a threatening "You're going down" look and spun around walking towards the driveway. He followed her down, laughing slightly.

"You ready?" She asked, taunting him. He just smiled at her.

She started dribbling the ball back and forth up and down the driveway. He ran at her to steal the ball, but Michelle was quicker. She hastily pivoted away and turned back scuttling to the hoop.

"I don't think so!" Tony called out to her. Michelle didn't even glance back as she quickly made a basket into the hoopa satisfied _swish_ coming from the netting.

"Really? I do."

Tony made his way toward her. "Best out of three." He said. Michelle just shrugged.

"If you _really _want to lose again then alright."

He smirked, "I'll start this time."

Michelle threw him the ball; it felt rough in his hands. He dribbled back and forth for a moment then charged towards the basket. Michelle met him half way. How she managed to take the ball out of Tony's death grip, he would never know. She lightheartedly shot the ball towards the hoop again. Tony watched in a bit of awe as it sailed through the air and cleanly into the basket.

"You sure you want to continue?" Michelle asked, throwing the ball back to him.

"Don't be so sure of yourself quite yet sweetheart." He answered back. Tony didn't wait another second; he quickly ran up to the hoop and made his lay-up. He threw the ball back to Michelle and she dribbled it back and forth between her hands mockingly. The sun had totally gone down now and the sky was prickled with stars.

She moved in to try and get to the hoop, but Tony was ready for her this time, he speedily went up behind her back and wrapped his arms around her, trying to get the ball free. Michelle was laughing by this time. She slowly turned to face him, looking gently into his eyes.

Tony kissed her lightly at first, but it soon increased. Here they were, two people who had finally reached the surface after misjudging the depth of the water.Michelle was still smiling. Suddenly he felt her arms move out from under his. Tony turned just in time to see the ball going through the basket, he faced Michelle again. She was smiling wider.

"Cheater." He told her objectionably.

Michelle shrugged again and threw him the ball.

"One more?"


	5. Cooking Catastrophe Numero Uno

**Cooking catastrophe numero uno **

**Hello everyone! After a hiatus from I have returned once again! So to commemorate the new season that starts tonight, here is the next chapter! (This portion was based roughly on true events, and let me tell you, the repercussions of which were the most unpleasant I have ever been through.) **

_There is an event that can happen in a woman's life that can cause a complete and utter mental break down. Most are fortunate enough to avoid it, but for the ones that happen to become subject to it become literally different people; all rationality being vanished. It was put best in the phrase "Hell hath no fury then a woman without her wedding ring." _

Michelle crept into the kitchen stealthily, knowing that even the slightest creak of the floorboards would wake Tony, who at this moment was lying immobile on their bed, trying to recover from a terrible bout of the flu. It was still quite early, and casting a hesitant look back at the cracked open bedroom door, she began to remove pots and pans from various drawers to make breakfast for him. Michelle felt it was her duty as the wife to try and make him as comfortable as possible during his time of need so she groped around for the cookbook and flipped to the page for pancakes.

Simple she thought, as she reached for the eggs and other various ingredients that would help her complete the task. Michelle carefully added the accurate amount of flour and milk and such, feeling very accomplished. Soon she began delicately pouring the pancake batter over the pan in neat little circles, throwing another cautious look over at their bedroom.

In ten minutes time the delicious aroma of pancakes had filled their home, and Michelle, who was completely beside herself due to the fact that it was her first cooking experience that hadn't ended in disarray and chaos, turned to the sink that was close to overflowing with dishes.

She picked up the soiled glasses and began to load them into the dishwasher, still giddy at the prospect of her success. A faint plunk was suddenly heard, and Michelle looked down just in time to see something gold glimmer before it continued its way down the hole in the sink.

It took a fleeting second to realize that the "thing" that had glimmered was her wedding ring, and it was now on its way down through their pipe system.

In that moment Michelle forgot that Tony was still asleep, that she still had pancakes cooking on the stove, and that it would better to think out the situational rationally than try and shove her arm down the sink to try and get her wedding ring back.

Soon, she had started to go into slight hysterics, the pancakes were now a nice charred black color, and Tony could be heard stirring from the bedroom. But nothing mattered to Michelle. No, she had gone from a civilized wife cooking breakfast for her husband to a screaming mad-woman yelling at the sink and blurting out a string of profanities.

"Michelle, what's the matter?" She could hear Tony's disorientated voice behind her. But she didn't turn around. She was now on a mission to get her ring back.

"Michelle!" He repeated nasally, grabbing her away from her fruitless efforts of trying to get her ring to magically come back up the hole. He turned her around and questioningly looked into her eyes.

"Tony-" She began, her voice was heavy with panic and tears. "Tony my wedding ring slipped off my hand and it went….it went…" She wasn't able to finish her sentence but cast a dark look back at the sink.

"It went down the garbage disposal?" He finished for her.

She let out a small sob and cried harder onto Tony's shoulder. Tony sighed deeply, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm going to get it back." She angrily said, undoing herself from Tony's grasp and walking back over to the sink.

Tony sighed again, the unpleasant smell of scalded pancakes filling his nose. He went to the stove and turned it off to prevent a further disaster from happening. Then he dragged his aching body back over to Michelle, who still had a few tears pouring down her cheeks, and was looking at the garbage disposal with deep loathing.

"Sweetheart, last time I checked it was you that I love and not the ring." A trace of congestion in his voice, yet his face showed nothing but concern with a slight trace of mingled hilarity towards his wife's determination. He gingerly pulled Michelle away from the sink again and dragged her to the nearest chair.

"I'm sorry Tony, I shouldn't have been so careless." She whispered slowly.

He smiled sadly at her, and wiped her cheeks. "It's not your fault. It's just a ring Michelle, we can buy another one." He finished with a cough.

"All I wanted to do was make you breakfast and look what happened!" She spurted out furiously.

Tony, who was significantly touched at the fact that she had gone through all this trouble just for him, shook his head and recommended for them both to go back to bed.

Michelle, still a bit shaken up, allowed herself to be led back in the security of Tony's arms. She lay down heatedly, continuing to have murderous thoughts regarding the whole situation, and lay there staring up at the ceiling in anger. Tony looked over at her vicious expression and kissed her on the forehead.

"I love you Michelle, but honestly maybe you should let me do the cooking from now on."

Michelle glared at him, but that glare turned into a laugh and she kissed him as she turned off the lights.


End file.
